CDT Roundup: 14 Deals, 12 Firms, 109 Lawyers, $4B

Okay, maybe you don’t pay attention to sports. Or maybe just the scores. Or maybe just the ads during the Super Bowl.

Still, the business of sports is gaining ground in ways that literally couldn’t be imagined even a decade ago, and in ways that for sports teams and their investors are placing the bottom line — even the betting line — at the clubhouse door. It’s no secret that sports team ownership, once the hobby horse for rich guys who longed to exchange some of the money they earned from steel mills or dairy farms or auto dealerships for a bask in the glory of the athletes who worked for them, is now the stuff of serious cross-industry partnerships involving planned real estate developments, municipal bond issues, intellectual property protections and now — casino gambling and broadcaster bankruptcy.